‘Bridges’ to Fargo: Globe winner married to former resident

When Jeff Bridges accepted his Golden Globe for best actor in a drama Sunday night, he dedicated a good portion of his acceptance speech to his wife, Sue Geston Bridges, formerly of Fargo.

“Time for acknowledging all the folks – I’m looking at you, sweetheart,” the veteran actor said to his wife, stationed at the couple’s front-and-center table at the Beverly Hilton.

Bridges, who won the award for his portrayal of an alcoholic country artist in “Crazy Heart,” also referred to Geston as “my beautiful wife” of 33 years, and instructed the show’s producers to “get a shot of her.”

The camera shifted to a beaming Geston, resplendent in a red, sequined dress.

Bridges’ mother-in-law, Patricia Hansen, was filled with pride as she watched the speech from her Fargo home.

“It was wonderful. I just loved it, of course,” says Hansen, a retired English professor at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

Yet Hansen wouldn’t expect anything less from Bridges. She says her famous son-in-law calls her every year on his wife’s birthday to thank Hansen for giving him “the love of his life.”

Geston, a 1970 Fargo North graduate, met Bridges, an up-and-coming star, in 1974, while she was working at a dude ranch near Livingston, Mont., and he was on location near there to film “Rancho Deluxe.”

Hansen refers to Bridges as a “renaissance man,” who paints, does ceramics and writes music. He also isn’t above consulting with his mother-in-law, who taught film classes, on future career decisions. (Hansen wisely advised him to pass on the William Holden role in the 1995 remake of “Sabrina.”)

“He is just a wonderful man,” Hansen says. “He just adores Susan and she adores him.”

Another former resident, Scott Hornbacher of Moorhead, also accepted a Golden Globe on Sunday night when the drama he produces, “Mad Men,” was recognized as best dramatic television series for the third year in a row.